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“I’ll call her later today. And thanks for the heads up.”
“No problem. Sorry, man.”
“I don’t thinksorryis going to cover the fallout on this.” He tapped the red button on his phone screen and groaned inwardly. How the hell was he supposed to tell—
“He released the tape didn’t he.” Laurel’s head poked around the doorframe into the hallway. Her hair was tousled and she looked adorable…until he met her gaze.She knew?
“Laurel, I—” There were no words. He stepped forward and pulled her close. Her tears wet his chest, but she didn’t come apart. She didn’t scream or rant or run. At least not yet. “I’m trying to get Piper to stall the story. I’m going to let her interview me about winning the contest and everything. It might be enough to at least keep your name out of the local paper.”
“You’d do that for me?” She looked up at him and smiled a sad beaten smile that made Mick want to drive up to Dallas and punch the ever-living shit out of whatever the hell her ex’s name was. “You know it’ll only delay it. Then your secret will be out. You’ve tried so hard to keep that part of your life private.”
“It doesn’t matter. Today. Tomorrow. It was foolish of me to hide it at all. I see that now. But, tell me…I don’t understand why your ex would do this—”
“I’d hoped Lance wouldn’t sink to this level, but he’s angry.” The words hiccupped out of her between soft sobs, each one yanking on Mick’s sense of honor.
Why would a man hurt a woman he’d once claimed to love? This guy had been married to Laurel. She wasn’t spiteful or cruel. Everything he’d witnessed in the short time Mick had known her shouted the exact opposite. “What could he possibly be angry at you for? Wasn’t he the one that—” He still couldn’t believe that a man would be stupid enough to let a woman like Laurel slip through his fingers.
Lucky for him the bastard had, or he wouldn’t have met Laurel at all. He wouldn’t have just had the best sex of his life. Or be contemplating the best way to convince her to stay in bed with him the entire day to forget the nastiness the outside world could conjure.
“Why, Laurel? Do you know?”
“I won’t give him the password to some client files. It was petty and I wanted him to sweat. I should’ve known better. It doesn’t matter. It’s out and I’ll let the chips fall where they will.” Laurel stepped back and tugged Mick’s hand. “Come back and hold me for a few minutes, please. Unless you have to leave—”
His heart twisted in his chest. So brave and strong. Faced with humiliation and the aftermath that would follow, she merely sought comfort in his arms. That he could do. Refusing her would be impossible. Hell, he’d take the rest of the weekend off if she asked. Probably still would even if she didn’t.
Mick followed Laurel back into the bedroom and climbed into bed next to her, pulling her tight to his body. Her curves. Damn. She felt so perfect against him. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Her voice was soft, barely more than a whisper.
“That I can’t get rid of this for you.”
She nuzzled her face deeper and the flutter of her eyelashes against his chest made him smile. Her lips pressed a soft kiss to his skin and blood rushed south. “You not freaking out is more than I could ask for. Most guys would’ve joined the shaming-name-calling crowd. You convinced a reporter not to print a story. I’m still not sure how that happened.”
“She owes me. I introduced her to her husband.”
Laurel chuckled, the laughter releasing some of the tension from her stiff body. “Well well. I’ve got some competition in town after all, Mr. Matchmaker.”
“I’m pretty sure all my friends are married now. So Mr. Matchmaker is officially out of business.” He pressed a kiss to the top of Laurel’s head and inhaled the sweet floral scent of her silky hair. “Why don’t I run into town and get us some breakfast? Possibly move down the way to my house where the heater works better and there are blankets.”
“You don’t want to turn blue with me any more?”
“I’d much rather see a nice pink covering you from head to foot,” he answered, sliding a hand down to cup her ass. “Or a Valentine red. But honestly, I’m starving. I didn’t eat anything at the restaurant before coming here last night.”
“I don’t have much in the pantry.”
“Other than the bottles of wine and some crackers…yeah, I noticed.” Mick gripped her chin and lifted it gently until he could kiss her. “Give me an hour or so,” he said, stealing a quick kiss. She was so soft against his mouth. Tasted so good. He wanted to have her all over again. Mick slipped a hand along the curve of her waist and pressed his fingertips into the meat of her ass.
She laughed and rolled out of his grip. “Alright. Go hunt us some breakfast. I’ll be ready to switch beds when you get back.” Laurel wrapped herself in the sheet covering her bed and motioned with her hands for him to vacate the mattress. “If you don’t go now, you won’t leave ever. And now that you’ve mentioned food, I’m starving too.”
“Fine.” He chuckled and slipped out of the bed on the opposite side. He gave her a wink after pulling on the rest of his clothes and then made his way downstairs and out the front door. There would never be such a thing asenoughof Laurel Hart. She deserved the world. At least as much as he could give her.
First he could start with delivering a first-class Valentine’s Day she’d never forget. Then he could begin the process of claiming her so completely she couldn’t remember her life without him in it.
A car doorslamming closed outside roused Laurel. She grabbed her phone from the side table where it lay and tapped the home button. The clock lit up.Three hours!She’d slept for three more hours after Mick left? Guess breakfast had taken longer to prepare than he’d guessed. She hopped out of bed and tiptoed over to the window looking out to her front yard. Sure enough, his big truck was in the drive.
He got out and looked up at her with that adorable grin and her insides melted.
She yanked on some sweats and twisted her hair up into a loose bun before hurrying down the stairs to the door. Her body was so relaxed she nearly lost her footing twice. That man sure knew how to make a girl feel satisfied and hungry for more all at the same time.
